1934 Tatra T52 Sodomka cabriolet

1934 Tatra T52 Sodomka cabriolet

Tatra 52 is a Czechoslovak mid-size car that was made by Závody Tatra from 1931 to 1939. It was built both at the Tatra factory in Kopřivnice and also under licence at Frankfurt am Main in Germany.

Tatra launched the Type 52 in 1931 to replace the Type 30/52. Like its predecessor the Type 52 has a Tatra concept backbone chassis. It also has the same 30 hp (22 kW) air-cooled 1,910 cc overhead valve flat-four engine, which gives it a top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph). Its fuel consumption is between 13 and 15 litres per 100 km.

Transmission us by a dry clutch and four-speed gearbox. The rear wheels are on half-axles with transverse leaf springs. The drum brakes are hydraulically-operated.

The choice of bodies offered included a four-door sedan, two-door, four-seat convertible, six-seat landaulet by Tatra and more luxurious versions with bodies by a choice of coachbuilders: Bohemia in Česká Lípa and Sodomka in Vysoké Mýto. By 1934 the bonnet had been restyled, with Tatra's traditional enclosed front replaced with a conventional grille.

For 1935 Tatra revised the Type 52 body again to be the same style as the 1,688 cc Tatra 75. Tatra increased the Type 52's power output to 32 hp (24 kW). Bodies offered included a six-seat limousine, six-seat convertible and also an ambulance.

Tatra also used the engine of the Type 52 in other vehicles, including trucks and the Tatra 72 three-axle off-road vehicle.

Type 52 production ceased in 1939, by which time about 1,700 cars had been built 1,157 of these were four-door limousines. This one is a Sodomka Company An elegant semi-streamliner and its coachbuilder's story:

The Sodomka company was established by Josef Sodomka in 1895 in Vysoke Myto in what's now called the Czech Republic*. Within a surface area of 92 square meters and with only five workers he began production of all kinds of coaches, both sleighs and horse drawn carriages. They became the largest and best known coachbuilding company in the Czechoslovak Republic.

Since 1925 Sodomka built car bodies for brands like Laurin & Klement, Skoda, Aero, Praga, Jawa, Tatra, Duesenberg, Mercedes and various others. The company was then under the management of Josef Sodomka Jr. The first bodies were wooden frames covered with imitation leather. They designed and manufactured one-offs on commission by special clients as well as small series for car manufacturers.

The elegant bodies produced by J. Sodomka won awards at important competitions. In 1932 two bodies won 1st prize for elegance in Brno. These prizes provoked the interest not only of many important customers, but also of domestic and foreign car producers. The production area at Vysoke Myto was expanded along with the number of workers enabling the company to produce small series e.g. on Walter Junior chassis and 85 bodies on Tatra 52 chassis. The company was now known as "Carrosserie Sodomka". From 1936 there was close cooperation with the Prague Aero car works.

The growing prestige of the company also saw orders pouring in from abroad, and this period saw the bodies being fitted to chassis of various French, Italian, German, British and American cars.

Descriptions & pictures by Wikipedia & dieselpunks & flickr & coachbuild